Eleven enthusiast power supplies compared

Today’s PCs are filled with mind-bendingly complex bits of engineering. Processors with multiple cores pack millions of transistors onto excruciatingly sterile shreds of silicon smaller than the average postage stamp. As if that weren’t impressive enough, those millions of transistors can flip bits billions of times per secondseemingly an entire world’s worth of activity in just the blink of an eye. Chips get even more complex when we dive into the world of graphics, where transistor counts multiply and the number of effective cores working in tandem grows exponentially. Here, the cutting edge really does look and feel the part, and the results can be spectacular.

Not so much for power supplies. At least in terms of the components inside a modern PC, the power supply is relatively simple faremere electrical engineering in a world that bears an increasing resemblance to computer science fiction. Yet power supplies are so often done poorly. PSUs with sagging voltages or otherwise dirty power are commonly the root of system stability issues. What’s more, they can effectively spread disease, taking other components with them as they spiral into an untimely demise.

Getting a power supply right shouldn’t be hard; a good PSU needs only to be quiet, efficient, reliable, and deliver enough pristine voltage to satisfy a given wattage requirement. So which power supplies are the quietest and the most efficient? More importantly, whose power is the cleanest? To find out, we’ve pushed 11 enthusiast-oriented PSUs to their limits through a brutal gauntlet of tests. Read on for the results.

Lining up the competition

Power supplies are relatively straightforward products, making them easy to compare. Here are some of the vitals of the 11 units we’ll be looking at today.

Wattage

Cooling

Modular?

80 Plus?

Warranty

Price

Antec EarthWatts
500W

500W

80mm rear

No

Yes

3 years

Antec Neo HE 550W

550W

80mm rear

Yes

No

5 years

Antec TruePower
Trio 650W

650W

120mm bottom

No

No

5 years

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 550W

550W

120mm bottom

No

Yes

5 years

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 650W

650W

120mm bottom

No

Yes

5 years

Corsair HX 620W

620W

120mm bottom

Yes

No

5 years

Enermax
Infiniti 720W

720W

140mm bottom

Yes

Yes

3 years

OCZ GameXStream
700W

700W

120mm bottom

No

No

3 years

PC Power &
Cooling Silencer 750W

750W

80mm rear

No

Yes

5 years

Seasonic S12II
500W

500W

120mm bottom

No

Yes

3 years

$109.99

ThermalTake
Toughpower 700W

700W

140mm bottom

Yes

No

5 years

As you can see, we’ve limited this batch to models with output ratings between 500 and 750 watts. Sure you can now get PSUs rated for a kilowatt or more, but that much power is only necessary for the most extreme high-end systems. Or perhaps a wildly overclocked Prescott. Most enthusiast systems should be more than comfortable with between 500 and 750W at their disposal.

Incidentally, we tried to get a generic 500W model to throw into the mix, but were thwarted by a general lack of availability. It seems generics don’t typically aspire to output capacities of 500W or greater, and those that do don’t cost much less than brand names with similar wattage ratings. This is a good thing for consumers, of course.

Among the units we’ll be looking at today, PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer packs the most grunt at 750W. 500W models from Antec and Seasonic round out the low end of the wattage spectrum, with everyone else falling into place between those extremes. A higher wattage rating doesn’t necessarily guarantee quality, though. We’ve designed our test suite to ensure lower-wattage models aren’t penalized for bringing fewer watts to the table.

Wattage ratings determine how much power a system can squeeze from a PSU, but a power supply’s actual socket draw is often much higher. This discrepancy is caused by inefficiencies in the power supply’s conversion of AC to DC power. Some do a better job than others, and the industry has come up with an “80 Plus” moniker to denote PSUs that are at least 80% efficient. Only about half of the power supplies in this group have an 80 Plus rating. Interestingly, some of the PSUs that lack the 80 Plus logo still come with claimed efficiency ratings of over 80%. We’ll be testing efficiency ourselves, so we can see whether the 80 Plus-certified units really are more efficient.

Reliability is more difficult to quantify than efficiency, but certainly no less important. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to test long-term reliability for a round-up like this. We can make some assumptions based on the warranty coverage offered by each manufacturer, though. Three years seems to be the standard for enthusiast-oriented PSUs, and you get at least that much coverage with each of the units we’re looking at today. However, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, and ThermalTake extend their warranty coverage to five years, giving them an edge on that front. Antec also offers fives years of coverage on its Neo HE and TruePower Trio models, but not with the EarthWatts. A longer warranty term doesn’t necessarily guarantee a more reliable power supply, of course, but you’ll at least be guaranteed a replacement for longer should things go south.

Cooling is important for power supplies on two fronts. Not only do PSUs have to cool their own internal components, but they can also suck a lot of hot air out of the rest of the system. These days, most employ 120mm fans mounted at the bottom of the unit to help draw warm air up from inside the case. ThermalTake and Enermax go even further by tapping massive 140mm fans that should be able to move more air at lowerand, more importantly, quieterfan speeds. At the other end of the spectrum, we have models from Antec and PC Power & Cooling that rely on a single 80mm exhaust fan at the back of the unit. This old-school approach has been around for ages, and we’ll be interested to see how those units’ cooling performance and noise levels compare with the others.

Getting a grip on cabling

Modular power supplies have more recently become popular, and four of the models in our group allow the removal of unused power leads to prevent cable clutter. In fact, each of the units we’ve gathered offers a unique mix of cabling options.

Main power

Aux 12V

PCIe

4-pin peripheral

SATA

4-pin floppy

Antec EarthWatts
500W

20/24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

2 x 6-pin

6

4

1

Antec Neo HE 550W

20/24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

2 x 6-pin

6

41

22

Antec TruePower
Trio 650W

20/24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

2 x 6-pin

83

4

1

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 550W

24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

2 x 6-pin

5

6

1

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 650W

24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

2 x 6-pin

5

6

1

Corsair HX 620W

20/24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

2 x 6/8-pin,
2 x
6-pin

10

84

22

Enermax
Infiniti 720W

24-pin

4/8-pin

6/8-pin,
2 x 6-pin

9

9

22

OCZ GameXStream
700W

20/24-pin

4/8-pin

2 x 6-pin

6

6

2

PC Power &
Cooling Silencer 750W

24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

2 x 6/8-pin,
2 x
6-pin

8

6

1

Seasonic S12II
500W

20/24-pin

4-pin, 8-pin

6/8-pin,
6-pin

9

6

22

ThermalTake
Toughpower 700W

20/24-pin

4/8-pin

6/8-pin,
2 x 6-pin

7

6

2

1. Two of the Neo HE’s four SATA plugs are on an extra lead that can only be used at the expense of leads for one of the PCIe connectors or three peripheral connectors.

2. Floppy connectors come on an adapter that consumes one peripheral connector.

3. Two of the TruePower’s eight peripheral connectors can only be used with system fans.

4. Five of the HX’s eight SATA plugs are on a pair of extra leads that will cost you two peripheral connectors each.

Each power supply in this round-up is equipped with a 24-pin primary power connector, but only six of those connectors can also be used with older 20-pin motherboards. We also see some variation when it comes to auxiliary 12V power connectors. All the power supplies are equipped to provide 4- or 8-pin auxiliary 12V power, but some do so with a hybrid connector, while others opt for individual 4- and 8-pin plugs.

A hybrid 8/6-pin PCIe connector next to a standard 6-pin plug

Be careful not to confuse 12V connectors with the new 8-pin PCIe connectors. The power requirements of high-end graphics cards have eclipsed the capacity of traditional 6-pin PCIe connectors, and just about half of the PSUs we’ve assembled feature at least one 8-pin PCIe connector. In each case, that 8-pin connector is a hybrid design that can also be converted for use with graphics cards that have 6-pin connectors.

Interestingly, only two units in this litter are properly equipped for high-end CrossFire configurations: the Corsair HX 620W and the “CrossFire Edition” of PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer 750W. The rest all have at least two 6-pin PCIe connectors, which is enough for most high-end graphics cards.

Update 10/05/2007 — Cooler Master has bumped the warranty coverage of its Real Power Pro power supplies to five years.

Cable reach

With each PSU’s outputs tallied, we turn our attention to the cablesmore specifically, how far they reach. PC enclosures come in all sorts of shapes and sizes these days, and depending on your motherboard and mix of components, some power supply leads can come up a bit short. Literally.

We can’t tell you whether this or that power supply has enough cable length for a given enclosure or system configuration, but with the help of a trusty measuring tape, we can show the maximum cable reach for each PSU. The reach measurements shown for SATA and 4-pin peripheral connectors refer to the reach of the last connector on the longest cable.

These PSUs don’t differ much when it comes to motherboard power connectors. The variances in cable length only amount to a few inches, although in some of today’s upside-down cases, that could be the difference between a configuration that works and one that doesn’t.

The Antec Neo HE, OCZ GameXStream, and Corsair HX provide the longest cable reaches here. Enermax’s Infiniti has a long 12V connector, as well, but its primary power cable is among the shortest.

PCIe cable length is particularly important if you’re running multi-GPU graphics configurations in taller enclosures. Somewhat surprisingly, the relatively modest Seasonic S12II has the longest PCIe power cables of the lot. The Silencer and Neo HE pull up a couple of inches behind, followed by models from Corsair and OCZ.

We really have to roll out the tape measure for the SATA and Molex plugs. OCZ’s GameXStream can reach SATA devices up to 40 inches away from the PSU, while the Toughpower stretches its 4-pin peripheral plugs a full 38 inches. Those two units are joined in the top three by the Silencer, which gives you a 37-inch reach for SATA and 4-pin peripheral plugs.

The Antec, Seasonic, and Enermax units round out the bottom of the pack here, making them somewhat less appropriate for systems with a myriad of hard drives spread throughout a large enclosure.

Longer cable reach is obviously a good thing if you need it. However, in smaller cases it can be a liability, particularly if lots of unused leads must be zip-tied out of the way. That’s not a problem with modular PSUs, of course, but it’s something to keep in mind if you typically use mid-tower or smaller enclosures.

Rated capacities

Each power supply comes with a total wattage rating, but there’s more to it than that. Power is divided among three primary lines at 3.3, 5, and 12 volts, and each of those lines carries a maximum current rating. To complicate things further, all but PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer spread 12V power over multiple rails. Instead of opting for multiple 12V lines, the Silencer offers a single 12V rail with a massive 60-amp capacity.

Maximum output current (A)

DC Output

+3.3V

+5V

+12V

Antec EarthWatts
500W

24

24

17, 17

Antec Neo HE 550W

24

20

18, 18, 18

Antec TruePower
Trio 650W

24

24

19, 19, 19

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 550W

25

20

19, 19, 19

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 650W

25

25

19, 19, 19

Corsair HX 620W

24

30

18, 18, 18

Enermax Infiniti
720W

25

30

28, 28, 30

OCZ GameXStream
700W

36

30

18, 18, 18, 18

PC Power & Cooling
Silencer 750W

24

30

60

Seasonic S12II
500W

24

24

17, 17

ThermalTake
Toughpower 700W

30

28

18, 18, 18, 18

Amperage is only the beginning, though. Through Ohm’s Law, we can determine the maximum wattage for each line, giving us an indication of actual output capacity.

Except it’s not quite as simple as multiplying a line’s voltage by its maximum current. PSUs with multiple 12V rails are limited by how much power can be spread across those multiple lines, and most units also limit how much power can be shared across the 3.3V and 5V lines. Then there’s the total output wattage across the 3.3, 5, and 12V lines, which doesn’t always add up to the maximum wattage of the power supply. Some PSUs reserve a portion of their total wattage capacity for lesser-used voltage lines like the -12V and 5V standby rails.

To make sense of it all, we’ve put together a handy table showing the maximum output power for each PSU’s 3.3, 5, and 12V rails. Where applicable, we’ve also indicated the maximum combined 3.3 and 5V power, the maximum combined 12V power, and how much wattage the PSU can spread across all three main rails.

Maximum output power (W)

DC Output

+3.3V

+5V

+12V

Antec EarthWatts
500W

79.2

120

204, 204

130

408

500

Antec Neo HE 550W

79.2

100

216, 216, 216

504

550

Antec TruePower
Trio 650W

79.2

120

228, 228, 228

624

650

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 550W

82.5

100

228, 228, 228

141

432

550

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 650W

82.5

125

228, 228, 228

191

540

650

Corsair HX 620W

79.2

150

216, 216, 216

170

600

620

Enermax Infiniti
720W

82.5

150

336, 336, 360

160

672

720

OCZ GameXStream
700W

118.8

150

216, 216, 216, 216

155

680

680

PC Power & Cooling
Silencer 750W

79.2

150

720

170

750

Seasonic S12II
500W

79.2

120

204, 204

130

408

500

ThermalTake
Toughpower 700W

99

140

216, 216, 216, 216

180

672

700

These are the power delivery stats that really matter, and as you can see, the units vary quite a bit. Interestingly, only Antec’s Neo HE and TruePower Trio make no mention of limits on combined 3.3 and 5V power. Among the others, CoolerMaster’s 650W Real Power Pro is surprisingly the most generous, boasting 191W of combined 3.3 and 5V output. ThermalTake’s Toughpower comes a close second at 180W, followed by units from Corsair and PC Power & Cooling. The 500W units from Antec and Seasonic predictably round out the low end of the spectrum with combined 3.3 and 5V output ratings of 130W.

Of course, 12 volts is where it’s really at. There, PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer tops the charts with a whopping 720W rating. The GameXStream and Toughpower PSUs aren’t far behind at 680 and 672W, respectively.

Obviously, the higher-wattage PSUs are equipped to deliver more 12V power than the others. What’s more interesting here is how each PSU balances the power it can provide across its 3.3, 5, and 12V lines. In a moment, we’ll see just how well these PSUs react to loads that push their maximum output ratings.

Introducing The Beast

When we set out to revisit power supply coverage, we realized we needed to do more than just plunk a PSU into a test system for some quality time at idle and under load. Testing in a real-world system is essential, of course, but it doesn’t necessarily push a power supply as hard as we’d like. We want to see how a power supply performs when stretched to its limits. Those limits, of course, are the maximum output wattages printed so conveniently on the side of every power supply. Reaching them requires the ability to generate arbitrary loads on a power supply’s various voltage lines. Since load generators for PC power supplies aren’t exactly off-the-shelf retail products, we set about building one from scratch.

My brief flirtation with electrical engineering is long behind me, but TR regular justbrewit has helped us with electrical projects in the past, and he was up to the challenge. JBI even wrote up his experiences building our power supply tester, which we’ve shared below.

Many moons ago, Geoff contacted me with an idea. I believe the origin of the idea was actually a thread on the TR forums, where I had commented on a device he had put together to help measure the power consumption of hard drives. In a nutshell, TR was interested in a device to help them test (and stress-test) PSUs.

The trick is to be able to apply controlled loads to each rail in a repeatable way, and push PSUs to the limits of their rated wattage to see how they behave under stress. With PSU wattages rapidly climbing past the 1 kilowatt mark, this becomes a non-trivial problem; the little off-the-shelf PSU testers you can buy do little more than check whether the voltages are within reasonable limits, under very light (just a few watts) loading.

Introducing The Beast

We kicked around various concepts, including a bank of adjustable high-power rheostats. Eventually I proposed a design to Geoff which was based on banks of binary-weighted load resistors, with individual switches for each load. After a number of tweaks to the initial proposal to accommodate future PSUs (we added provisions for up to four +12V rails), and reduce cost and complexity (support for testing +5VSB and -12V rails was dropped), we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted The Beast (as it came to be known) to look like.

The final specs: 0 to 46A on the 3.3V rail, 0 to 62A on the +5V rail, and 0 to 88A on the +12V rails (four 22A rails which can be ganged together), all in calibrated 2A steps. That’s over 1500W of combined load  surely enough to handle all but the most extreme PSUs! A pair of 120mm Sunon fans (powered from their own +12V wall wart power brick) keep The Beast from losing its cool.

Banks of resistance abound

Plenty of cooling at the rear

After numerous delays, parts were finally ordered and construction got underway this past January. My basement bathroom was temporarily turned into a makeshift machine (and soldering) shop, since it was too cold to work out in the garage. Geoff shipped me a pair of OCZ PowerStream PSUs to help with testing and calibration — since The Beast is designed to handle over 1000W on the +12V rails alone, I had to gang two conventional PSUs together to test the tester, and ensure that it had adequate cooling!

Wiring for load switches

Further delays ensued when I discovered that the main ATX connector on The Beast’s wiring harness was prone to bent pins, meaning it was not rugged enough to stand up to repeated plugging and unplugging. Some re-engineering of the wiring harness to ensure that the pins remain straight in the housing, plus making the main ATX connector modular (so that it is easily replaceable) took care of that issue.

During testing and calibration, I also managed to destroy a ThermalTake TR2 PSU, when an incorrect switch setting caused me to accidentally exceed the PSU’s combined maximum wattage rating. A popping sound, a flash of light (visible through the PSU’s exhaust fan opening), a puff of smoke, and that was all she wrote. Beast indeed!

A close-up of The Beast’s resistors

In May, the finished Beast was carefully packed, and finally shipped off to Geoff. A few days ago he informed me that it performed quite well during the testing he did for the PSU roundup… and he even managed to avoid blowing any of the PSUs up!

In order to see how each PSU reacts at its limits, we’ll be using The Beast to test them at 50, 75, and 100% of their rated capacities. Our tests will load the 3.3, 5, and 12V rails simultaneously, so we have to keep in mind each PSU’s combined and total power output limits. Those limits dictate our power draw targets at 50, 75, and 100% capacity, and each PSU’s individual rail biases govern how the load is distributed across the 3.3, 5, and 12V rails.

Since The Beast is limited to applying loads in 2A increments, we won’t be able to nail the percentage-based load targets exactly. Instead, we’ve channeled The Price is Right and used amperage loads that come as close to our targets as possible without going over. The chart below shows the amperage loads applied to each rail during testing.

Total loads (Amps)

50%

75%

100%

3.3V

5V

12V

3.3V

5V

12V

3.3V

5V

12V

Antec EarthWatts
500W

6

6

14

10

10

22

14

14

30

Antec Neo HE 550W

8

8

16

14

12

24

18

16

32

Antec TruePower
Trio 650W

8

8

20

14

14

30

18

18

40

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 550W

8

6

16

12

10

24

18

14

34

Cooler Master
Real Power Pro 650W

10

10

20

14

14

30

20

20

40

Corsair HX 620W

6

8

20

10

12

30

14

16

40

Enermax
Infiniti 720W

6

8

24

10

12

36

14

16

48

OCZ GameXStream
700W

8

6

22

12

10

34

16

14

46

PC Power &
Cooling Silencer 750W

6

8

24

10

14

36

14

18

50

Seasonic S12II
500W

6

6

14

10

10

22

14

14

30

ThermalTake
Toughpower 700W

8

8

22

12

12

34

18

16

46

When testing with The Beast, each power supply was hooked up using its primary and auxiliary 12V connectors, two PCIe power connectors, and six 4-pin peripheral connectors. We used a Pico ADC-212 digital oscilloscope to probe 3.3 and 5V wires on the primary power connector. 12V lines were probed in the primary power connector and also with one of the PCIe power connectors. In the graphs on the following pages, 12V power from the primary connector will be marked 12V1, while power from the PCIe connector will be 12V2.

At each load level, we logged DC and AC voltage for 100 seconds after an initial warm-up period where the PSU was under load for five minutes. DC voltages were averaged over that period and tended not to vary much, if at all. Each line’s AC content, otherwise known as ripple, varied quite a bit, as the following example shows.

The graph looks a little scary, but ripple is normal for a power supply. You just don’t want too much of it, and in the example above, the spikes don’t reach 30 millivolts. Because layering the ripple results in multiple lines would make our graphs entirely too difficult to read, and since you probably don’t want to scroll through a dozen individual graphs for each of the 11 PSUs we’re testing, we’ve elected to present ripple content as an average of the absolute value of AC voltages over our 100-second test period. Think of this measure as the average amplitude of the AC ripple results, using zero as a baseline. Ideally there should be no AC content in a DC line, so an average of absolute values should give us a good representation of just how far each PSU strays from that ideal.

In addition to probing each PSU with an oscilloscope, we also used a Watts Up? PRO meter to log power draw at the wall socket. These wattages were averaged across our 100-second test interval, although the results rarely deviated by more than 0.1W during that time. These socket draw results were used to determine each PSU’s efficiency under 50, 75, and 100% loads.

Our testing methods

Testing was conducted in two parts. First, PSUs were run in the system detailed below for a series of power draw, temperature, and noise level tests. They were then hooked up to The Beast to test power delivery and overall efficiency.

Antec’s EarthWatts power supply is the tree-hugger of the bunch. As one might expect, it’s billed as an energy-efficient model, complete with a leafy green logo. Antec also says it’s the “most environmentally friendly power supply yet.”

Don’t let the eco-friendliness fool you, though; the EarthWatts may be available in wattages as low as 380W, but the model we have in-house today packs 500W, dual 12V rails, and a pair of PCIe power connectors for multi-GPU graphics configurations. Think of it as a turbocharged Toyota Priusone with all the optional extras, including 80 Plus certification and active power factor correction.

The EarthWatts may be the equivalent of a pimped out Prius, but it certainly doesn’t look the part. One could easily mistake the PSU for a budget generic model, and given the EarthWatts’ $75 street price, you’d at least have the budget part right.

With only an 80mm fan pulling air at the rear, the EarthWatts features extensive venting along one of its internal panels to aid airflow. Unfortunately, that panel sits where most folks tend to stuff the bundle of unused power leads they end up with at the end of a system build. Users will have to be careful not to impede airflow to the vents too much.

Through our load testing, the EarthWatts maintains very consistent DC voltages across each rail. Antec doesn’t nail the 3.3, 5, and 12V lines exactly, but voltages are all within 1% of where they should be, which is an impressive result.

The EarthWatts’ AC ripple content is also consistently low on each rail. AC content averages around 10 millivoltsa drop in the bucket.

Our efficiency testing shows that the EarthWatts’ 80 Plus certification is indeed justified. The PSU never dips below 80%, although efficiency does drop slightly when we apply our 100% load.

Unlike the EarthWatts, Antec’s Neo HE apparently won’t save the planet. Despite lacking 80 Plus certification, though, this PSU still boasts efficiency “up to 85%,” so it probably won’t sneak off and club baby seals in the middle of the night.

What the Neo HE really feels like is an attempt to be all things to all people. The range is available in six models from 380W all the way up to 650W, and with street prices for this 550W model dipping as low as $88, there isn’t much in the way of sticker shock. Nearly $90 for a power supply isn’t cheap, of course, but when you factor in the Neo HE’s five-year warranty, trio of independent 12V rails, active power factor correction, and SLI certification, it starts to look like a pretty sweet deal.

The Neo has a menacing streak, too. With its matte grey finish and black fan grill, this PSU wouldn’t look out of place in a military installation. The fact that the Neo relies on a single 80mm exhaust fan is a little disappointing, though.

Fortunately, the HE’s modular cable system should keep a bundle of unused wires from impeding airflow around its internal venting. Modular cables are the best thing to happen to power supplies in a long, long time, and I have to admit being a little perplexed by the fact that more manufacturers haven’t jumped on the bandwagon.

Even apart from their modular nature, the cables themselves are much nicer the ones attached to Antec’s EarthWatts unit. Each lead is carefully sheathed in black mesh to keep things nice and tidy.

The Neo HE’s DC voltages are spot-on, too. Consistent voltages are maintained across all three rails, although as we saw with the EarthWatts, 12V levels are slightly lower on the primary power connector than they are on one of the PCIe connectors. All voltages are within 1% of their targets, too.

Ripple results are a little more mixed for the Neo, with the PCIe connector’s 12V line showing the least AC content. The rest of the rails show increased ripple under our heaviest load, but even then, we’re looking at no more than 14 millivolts.

Our efficiency testing hints at why the Neo doesn’t carry 80 Plus certification: the PSU falls just shy of 80% efficiency with our most demanding load. Even so, it’s hard to knock the Neo for only hitting 79.9%, especially when it manages over 82% efficiency with lower loads.

The TruePower Trio is the third Antec power supply in this round-up, which I suppose is fitting. This model differs enough from the EarthWatts and Neo HE models to warrant inclusion, in part because it’s rated for 650W of total outputmore than either of the other Antec units.

Like the Neo HE, the TruePower features three 12V rails and active power factor correction. While the Neo is only certified for dual-card SLI configurations, Antec’s website claims the TruePower carries Quad SLI certification. Don’t put too much stock into that certification, though: with only two PCIe power connectors, the Trio doesn’t actually have enough 6-pin connectors for a Quad SLI rig.

The TruePower looks just as drab as the EarthWatts, but instead of settling for a standard 80mm exhaust fan at the rear, it employs a much larger 120mm fan mounted on its bottom panel (top in the picture.) In conjunction with generous venting at the rear, this larger fan should allow the TruePower to exhaust more warm air from the system, lowering temperatures inside.

Larger fans can move more air at lower speeds than smaller units, so the TruePower should run quieter, as well. Its temperature-based fan speed control can also be tied to system fans by way of a pair of fan-only 4-pin molex connectors.

Unfortunately, the TruePower doesn’t come with modular cables like its Neo HE cousin. You don’t get fancy cable sheathing, either, but Antec’s five-year warranty remains.

Voltage delivery isn’t a problem for the TruePower. In fact, its voltages are closer to their ideal values than either of the other Antec models. There isn’t much deviation as the load ramps from 50 to 100%, either.

The TruePower does provide some more interesting ripple results to look at. With the exception of the PCIe connector’s 12V line, which has hardly any AC content at a 50% load, the general trend shows ripple decreasing as the load on the power supply increases. Even at its worst, average AC content doesn’t eclipse 14 millivolts.

TruePower efficiency looks pretty good overall, although it does drop as the load on the PSU increases. Still, 79.4% efficiency at 100% load is nothing to be ashamed of, particularly for a model that’s over 83% efficient with a lighter load.

Cooler Master makes loads of power supplies, and we have two units in our group. The first is the Real Power Pro 550W, which currently sells for a little less than $100. This price tag makes the Pro one of the most affordable PSUs of the bunch, but don’t assume Cooler Master has skimped on features. The Pro boasts 80 Plus and SLI certifications and packs a trio of independent 12V rails.

Warranty coverage is limited to three years, though. That’s not quite as nice as the five-year guarantees offered by some other manufacturers, but it should be enough for most folks.

Those with an eye for aesthetics will no doubt appreciate the Pro’s glossy black finish. If you enjoy silence, the unit’s temperature-controlled 120mm fan should catch your eye, as well. Like most PSUs with bottom-mounted cooling fans, the Pro features extensive venting at the rear.

Note the little LED next to the Pro’s power switch. This LED serves as a warning system and will light up if the power supply detects that voltages, temperatures, current, or even the load deviates from acceptable levels.

The Real Power Pro doesn’t come with modular cables. Cooler Master has done a good job of ensuring that all leads are neatly sheathed, though. Sheathing doesn’t affect power delivery, but it makes snaking wires around an enclosure a little easier, and the end result looks a lot nicer.

DC voltages look solid for the Real Power Pro across all three loads. Any deviations from target voltages are at or below 1%, which is quite good.

Ripple is consistent for the Real Power Pro, as well. AC content does trend a little higher than we saw with the Antec models. However, we’re still looking at averages below 18 millivolts overallwell within an acceptable range.

Despite its 80 Plus certification, the Pro only manages 79.4% efficiency under our 100% load. The Pro does better under loads of 50 and 75% of capacity, where it maintains greater than 80% efficiency.

Update 10/05/2007 — Cooler Master has bumped the warranty coverage of its Real Power Pro power supplies to five years.

At first glance, Cooler Master’s 650W Real Power Pro looks identical to the 550W model. Both units share a common feature set, including active power factor correction, 80 Plus and SLI certifications, and that handy warning light at the rear. Even their prices are similar, with the 650W model costing about $15 more than the 550W unit.

With 100 additional watts at its disposal, the 650W Real Power Pro is capable of handling 5A more on its 5V line than the 550W model. The 650W unit can also handle an additional 50W of combined 3.3 and 5V power and a whopping 112W of additional 12V power draw.

Not that you’d know by looking at it.

Of course, just because Cooler Master says this 650W model can handle heavier loads than the 550W unit doesn’t make it so. Let me illustrate.

If you turn your attention to 12V2that’s 12V power from the PCIe connectoryou’ll notice it dips to just 10.7V when the PSU is fully loaded. That’s nearly a 6% deviation, the biggest drop in voltage we’ve seen yet.
The Real Power Pro’s performance is otherwise exemplary. Perhaps Cooler Master’s 12V output wattage spec was just a little too optimistic.

Things get even more interesting when we look at ripple voltage. The 12V PCIe line has quite a bit more AC content than the others at 50 and 75% loads, but not because it’s exhibiting abnormally high ripple. Instead, the other lines register incredibly low levels of AC content when the PSU isn’t fully-loaded. Even at full load, AC content doesn’t average out to over 18 millivolts.

The Real Power Pro 650W has no problem maintaining higher than 80% efficiency when loaded to 50 and 75% capacity, but efficiency drops below the 80% mark when the PSU is pushed to its limits. Our calculated 77.5% efficiency at 100% load is actually a little optimistic because the Pro is delivering less voltage than it should on one of its 12V lines.

Update 10/05/2007 — Cooler Master has bumped the warranty coverage of its Real Power Pro power supplies to five years.

Better known for its memory products, Corsair recently dipped into the power supply market with its HX 620W. As one might expect given Corsair’s roots, this model is targeted squarely at enthusiasts, packing just about every bell and whistle you’d wantwell, every bell and whistle short of an 80 Plus badge, but we’ll see in a moment why that doesn’t matter.

The HX is certified for SLI, and it’s one of only a couple of PSUs in this round-up available with enough 8-pin PCIe connectors to support a Radeon HD 2900 XT CrossFire config. Given its CrossFire capability, the HX’s 620W rating is a little surprising. Other high-end units in this round-up promise 700W or more.

What the HX may lack in output wattage it starts to make up with five years of warranty coverage. The PSU also sports active power factor correction and a temperature-controlled 120mm fan mounted on the bottom panel of the unit.

The HX’s real allure is its modular cabling system. The ability to remove unused leads does wonders for reducing enclosure clutter, and since the HX comes with a few extras, you can juggle its output between 4-pin peripheral and SATA connectors as you see fit.

These aren’t your standard modular cables, either. Most modular PSUs rely on leads that look like they’ve been adapted from traditional units, but the ones bundled with the HX aren’t just sheathed lengths of twisted wires with a PSU hook-up at one end. These cables have a custom-made feel, and their ribbon-like leads don’t require sheathing to stay tidy.

The HX is particularly impressive when we hook it up to The Beast. DC voltages remain flat across all three load levels, with none deviating by much more than 1%.

AC ripple is consistently low, as well. None of the lines register AC content above roughly 12 millivolts, and 3.3 and 5V ripple are at their lowest under our 100% load.

Even without official 80 Plus certification, the HX has no problem maintaining efficiency above 82% across all three load levels. This is highest overall efficiency we’ve seen so far, proving you don’t need an 80 Plus badge to conserve power.

With a street price hovering near $195, Enermax’s Infiniti PSU is the most expensive model in this comparison. Interestingly, though, the Infiniti’s 720W total output rating isn’t the highest of the bunch. So why does the it cost more than the others?

Because it’s loaded.

To start, the Infiniti comes active power factor correction and certifications for SLI and 80 Plus efficiency. In fact, Enermax promises efficiency between 82 and 85% when the power supply is under a load of at least 20% of its capacity. You also get an 8-pin PCIe connector, should your graphics card’s power requirements exceed that of most folks’ entire systems.

Enermax even throws in a little bling, caging the Infiniti’s monster 140mm fan behind a faux gold grill. The Infiniti is one of only two PSUs in this round-up to sport a 140mm fan, and that should allow it to move more air at lower noise levels than its competitors.

Air moved by this fan should have no problem making its way out the PSU’s hole-riddled back panel. There you’ll also find a status light that reflects the PSU’s general disposition.

Modular cables are also on the menu, and they’re sheathed, mostly. The sheathing only goes about halfway down the PCIe leads and only to the first connector on the SATA and 4-pin peripheral cables, which feels a little chintzy given the Infiniti’s price tag. The PSU’s three-year warranty isn’t anything special, either.

The Infiniti starts to make up ground when we look at its DC voltage delivery. 3.3 and 5V levels are practically flat regardless of the load and within half a percent of their targets. The 12V lines don’t waver much as the load increases, either, although they’re as much as 1.5% shy of nailing 12 volts exactly.

Ripple is a little higher on the Infiniti than we’ve seen with some of the other PSUs, at least at 50 and 75% loads. However, even there, AC content doesn’t average much higher than 18 millivolts. Voltage delivery gets a little cleaner under a 100% load.

Enermax claims the Infiniti’s efficiency is between 82 and 85%, but our own testing doesn’t quite bear that out. The Infiniti certainly isn’t wildly inefficient, though.

We’ve been using OCZ’s GameXStream 700W PSUs in our test rigs for more than a year now. The Benchmarking Sweatshop is home court for this model, and since we’ve been using them for so long, we can tell you that they’ve been very reliable with a wide range of different system configurations. The GameXStream isn’t necessarily any more reliable than the other PSUs in this round-up; we just haven’t been playing with the rest of the field for nearly as long.

The GameXStream is relatively subdued on the surface. You get active power factor correction and SLI certification, but there’s no 80 Plus badge or fancy modular cables. The warranty only lasts three years, so OCZ isn’t breaking any new ground there. What the GameXStream does offer is 700W of output capacityquite a lot given its affordable $115 street price.

OCZ hasn’t cut corners just to kick out a cheap, high-wattage PSU, though. The GameXStream comes wrapped in black with a 120mm fan in charge of keeping things cool. There’s also an LED tucked away that bathes the unit’s internals in a blue glow when it’s powered on.

All the cables are sheathed, too, and there’s plenty of length to play with.

DC voltages are nice and consistent across all three loads. The 3.3V line is particularly accurate, but all lines are within about 1% of their targets.

We’ve had more requests to review PC Power & Cooling PSUs than any other brand, and for good reason. PC Power & Cooling has a reputation for building some of the best high-performance PSUs around. Is there anything to the hype?

Not at first glance.

Sure, the CrossFire Edition of this Silencer 750W PSU happens to be painted a particularly striking shade of red, but that looks to be more CrossFire branding than PC Power & Cooling flexing its muscles. The muscle is there, though; you just have to look under the hood.

Beneath what looks like (apart from the red, of course) a rather standard PSU lurks a monstrous 12V line capable of pumping out a whopping 720W. Coaxing 60 amps from a single 12V line is impressive enough on its own, but even more so when you consider that all the other PSUs in this round-upand indeed most of the industryhave to split 12V power between multiple lines to achieve similar output capacity.

Given its grunt, it’s surprising the Silencer isn’t peppered with cooling vents or massive fans. The unit relies on a single 80mm cooling fan at the rearan odd choice given the Silencer name.

What might surprise most folks about the Silencer is that it really isn’t that expensive. The unit sells for around $170 online, not a drop in the bucket by any means, but not unreasonable given the Silencer’s 750W output rating. Don’t forget PC Power & Cooling’s five-year warranty, either.

Power delivery should be the Silencer’s real strength, and it looks pretty good in our DC voltage tests. The 12V lines are a little low, but still within about 1% of nailing 12 volts exactly. Voltages remain consistent as the load on the PSU increases, as well.

AC ripple isn’t much of a problem for the Silencer. Most of the lines average about 10 millivolts, and the 12V PCIe connector’s AC content drops even lower under heavier loads.

Seasonic PSUs aren’t particularly prevalent in North America, but the company has a reputation for models with high efficiency and low noise levels. The S12II will have to deliver on both of those fronts to compete with the other PSUs we’ve rounded up, in part because it’s relatively expensive. You can currently find the S12II for sale online for around $110. That’s certainly not outrageous for a high-quality power supply, but it’s a lot to pay for only 500W of total output capacity.

The S12II doesn’t pack a whole lot in terms of extra features, either. Sure you get an 8-pin PCIe connector and plenty of cable length to snake around your system, but the cables aren’t modular, and they’re not fully sheathed. Warranty coverage tops out at a decidedly average three years, too.

An all-black aesthetic might tip the scales in the S12II’s favor, if that sort of thing does it for you. The unit looks quite nice, in an understated sort of way, but a power supply can only have so much visual appeal.

What will be far more important to this PSU’s success is just how quietly that 120mm fan spins. Bottom-mounted 120mm fans seem to be the new standard for enthusiast-oriented models, so the S12II will have plenty of similarly equipped competition in its quest for silence.

The S12II starts to justify its price tag when we look at DC output quality. Voltages are consistent across all three load levels. They’re also all within 1.3% of ideal values.

Ripple looks very good on the S12II, with all lines averaging AC content around 10 millivolts. These results are consistent across all three load levels.

Seasonic proves its point on the efficiency front, too. The S12II manages over 80% efficiency across the board, peaking at 84% when running at three-quarters capacity.

With a $150 street price, ThermalTake’s 700W Toughpower is one of the more expensive models in this comparo. $150 buys you a lot, though, including 672W of combined 12V power spread over three independent rails. Active power factor correction is also included, as is SLI certification. You even get a five-year warranty.

80 Plus certification isn’t a part of the package, however. ThermalTake does say the Toughpower is up to 85% efficienta claim we’ll test in a moment. First, let’s have a look at the unit, which is decked out in a glossy black finish.

The Toughpower uses an integrated fan grill that’s a little chunkier than what we’ve seen with other models. I’d worry more about it restricting airflow were it not hiding a 140mm fan.

That big fan should ensure plenty of airflow through the PSU, and there’s loads of venting at the rear of the unit for exhaust. Modular cables should also keep cable clutter from impeding airflow within an enclosure.

ThermalTake nicely sheathes the full length of modular cables included with the Toughpower. One of those leads features an 8-pin PCIe power connector, as well.

DC voltages are very tight on the Toughpower. At worst, they deviate by just 0.85% from target values, and most lines are much closer than that.

The ripple picture isn’t quite as favorable. Here we see AC content averaging over 20 millivoltsmore than the other PSUs in this round-up. Even so, the Toughpower is rated for between 50 and 120 millivolts of ripple, depending on the line. We’re well within tolerances.

There’s a 2% drop in efficiency from a 50 to 100% load with the Toughpower. At full capacity, the PSU drops just below the 80% efficiency mark.

Efficiency

We don’t want to make too many direct comparisons between test results gathered from The Beast because each PSU was run under different loads corresponding to its individual specifications. However, efficiency is important enough to make an exception. Here we’ve graphed the efficiencies of each PSU at 50, 75, and 100% capacity to see how they stack up against each other.

PC Power & Cooling is the undisputed king of efficiency, taking the top spot in each load test, and always by at least a full percentage point. Corsair and Seasonic round out the top three overall, followed closely by Antec’s EarthWatts.

A few PSUs stand out at the back of the pack, too. The GameXStream finishes in the bottom two three times, and the Infiniti falls to last place twice. Fortunately, there really isn’t a huge gap in overall efficiency between the best and worst of the lot.

System temperatures

Our next batch of tests deployed the PSUs in a real-world system with a pair of GeForce 8800 GTS cards in SLI and a couple of hard drives. For these tests, the systems first sat at idle for 10 minutes. They were then subjected to a 10-minute load consisting of Prime95, Oblivion, and an IOMeter file server test pattern.

System temperatures were measured using a combination of Nvidia’s nTune system utility for the GPUs and Asus’ PC Probe software for the CPU and motherboard.

The Infiniti’s beefy 140mm fan helps it maintain the lowest temperatures at idle, occasionally by large margins over the rest of the field. Models with 80mm cooling fans didn’t do so well here, with the EarthWatts struggling the most. Even the mighty Silencer runs the system a little warm.

Under load, the differences in temperatures between the PSUs shrink, and the Infiniti loses its hold on the lead. It’s hard to pick an overall winner, particularly because motherboard and GPU temperatures are so close. However, we see nearly a 10-degree spread in CPU temperatures, with the EarthWatts trailing by a full three degrees alone.

The Toughpower, Infiniti, and 550W Real Power Pro enable the lowest CPU temperatures here. Interestingly, the 650W Real Power Pro leaves the CPU five degrees warmer than its lower-wattage counterpart.

Noise levels

Noise levels were measured at idle and under load using an Extech 407727 Digital Sound Level meter placed 1″ from the rear of the system and out of the direct path of airflow. You’ll notice “missing” results for some of the PSUs at idle. We’ve omitted them because our meter only registers noise levels above 40 decibels, and most of the field is quieter than that at idle.

Some of the PSUs are louder than 40 dB at idle, though, including models from ThermalTake, Antec, and OCZ. The picture changes somewhat under load. For instance, the GameXStream moves from last place to middle of the pack, and the Earthwatts ranges from under 40 dB to over 54 dB. The Corsair HX and the Silencer 750W stand out in both cases, though.

Power consumption

Power consumption was measured at the wall socket for the entire system, sans monitor or speakers.

14 watts separates the most efficient PSU from the least at idle, with the Neo HE, Silencer, and HX rounding out the top three. The Toughpower is the least frugal at idle, consuming four watts more than the next closest model.

Under load, the gap between the most and least efficient PSU shrinks to only seven watts. PC Power & Cooling, Corsair, and Seasonic round out the top three, but they don’t enjoy much of a margin over the rest of the field.

Conclusions

We’ve covered a lot, so before diving into our conclusions on each power supply we’ve tested, we should take a moment to note some general trends. With few exceptions, all the PSUs in this round-up are pretty good. In fact, only Cooler Master’s 650W Real Power Pro failed to deliver tight voltage tolerances, and then on only one rail in our 100% output capacity test. Ripple wasn’t much of a problem for these PSUs, either. ThermalTake’s Toughpower may have been the worst, but its average AC content was well within acceptable limits. Heck, even overall efficiencies were impressive. The lowest efficiency we observed was 76.7%just 10 percentage points shy of the highest.

So brand-name PSUs are pretty good in general, it seems. Some are better and worse than others, of course, and to help you sort through this litter we’ve provided a quick summary of our thoughts on where each stands.

Antec EarthWatts 500W  By far the cheapest PSU in this round-up, the EarthWatts looks to be good value for budget-minded environmentalists, especially since its power delivery is solid. Despite leafy-green goodness, the EarthWatts isn’t the most efficient PSU of the bunch. It isn’t that quiet, either, and that pokey 80mm fan has doesn’t move a lot of air. You’re better off saving a few extra dollars for the next PSU on our list.

Antec Neo HE 550W  The Neo HE is a great example of how spending just a little more can pay huge dividends. For less than $20 more than an EarthWatts, you get a five-year warranty, efficiency that’s nearly as good, modular cabling, and an additional 50 watts of output capacity. Only the Neo HE’s relatively high noise levels keep it from an Editor’s Choice award, but it’s good enough for an effective silver medal, our TR Recommended designation.

Antec TruePower Trio 650W  A five-year warranty and 650W output capacity start the TruePower Trio off on the right foot, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of luxury. The Trio lacks modular cables and 8-pin PCIe connectors, and it’s far too loud given its $120 street price. Spending a little bit more will get you a significantly better power supply.

Corsair HX 620W
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W
September 2007

Cooler Master Real Power Pro 550W  The Real Power Pro wasn’t particularly exceptional or disappointing in our testing. Like most of the field, power delivery was good, if not great. While the others were able to distinguish themselves with high efficiency, low noise levels, or cool system temperatures, the Real Power Pro spent most of its time at the middle or back of the pack. Without a long warranty or modular cables to add to its appeal, the Pro just isn’t compelling value, at least not while it’s selling for $95 online.

Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W  This 650W flavor feels almost like Cooler Master pushed the Real Power Pro a little too far. The sagging voltage we observed on the 12V PCIe line under 100% load is enough to quash any chance we’d recommend this model, particularly given the strength of the competition. Even if it had managed to maintain adequate voltage on the 12V rail, the 650W Real Power Pro would still be as average as its 550W brother.

Corsair HX 620W  Buying into a company’s first stab at a new class of products is rarely a good idea, but Corsair’s first entry into the power supply world is worth an exception. The enthusiast pedigree shows. With a five-year warranty, the best modular cables we’ve seen, dual 8-pin PCIe connectors, and among the highest efficiency results and lowest noise levels, the HX 620W is arguably the best all-around PSU of the lot. Overall goodness isn’t cheap. In fact, it costs just about $140 online. We think the HX is worth every pennyand worthy of an Editor’s Choice award.

Enermax Infiniti 720W  A nearly $200 price tag makes the Infiniti the most expensive PSU in the round-up, and that sets expectations high. For the most part, Enermax delivers, equipping the Infiniti with a massive fan that’s quiet under load, 720W of output capacity, and modular cables. Yet the whole package doesn’t quite come together, in part because the Infiniti’s comparative efficiency is so low. Given the competition, we’d expect a five-year warranty at this price point, too.

Antec Neo HE 550W
Seasonic S12II 500W
September 2007

OCZ GameXStream 700W  With a $115 street price, the GameXStream delivers great value in terms of watts per dollar. Unfortunately, unless you’re particularly partial to blue LEDs, there isn’t much else to get excited about. In fact, the GameXStream’s relatively low efficiency and high noise levels are a little disappointing. We can vouch for the GameXStream’s reliability, though, and that counts for something. Just not quite enough.

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W  The Silencer lives up to the hype surrounding PC Power & Cooling, and then some. This PSU just about has it all, including a five-year warranty, clean power delivery, dual 8-pin PCIe connectors, and a truly monstrous 12V rail. Despite using an old-school 80mm fan, noise levels are remarkably low, as well. Throw in the highest efficiencies we’ve seen and you have our second Editor’s Choice recipient. A quality power supply is an investment, and even at around $170 online, the Silencer is a good one.

Seasonic S12II 500W  The S12II is a very good power supply. Even a great one. Power delivery is clean, efficiency is excellent, and noise levels are pretty low. That’s all you really need from a PSU, which is why we don’t so much mind the lack of modular cables, the three-year warranty, or the relatively pedestrian 500W capacity. At least, we wouldn’t mind if the S12II weren’t so expensive. This model is scarce online, which is perhaps why the cheapest we’ve seen it at is $110. At that price, the S12II isn’t a particularly good value. However, it’s still a great power supply, one we’d heartily recommend should you be able to find it for less.

ThermalTake Toughpower 700W  There’s a lot to like about the Toughpower, including its five-year warranty, 700W output capacity, and modular cables. Considering those perks, the unit’s $150 street price looks pretty good. We can even forgive the Toughpower’s comparatively high ripple content since it was well within the PSU’s tolerances. We can’t get past the noise levels, though. The Toughpower is among the loudest of the lot at idle and under loada problem its direct competitors don’t share.

And so The Beast’s first run through a pack of power supplies comes to a close. Weeks of testing hasn’t been kind to this lot, but it’s given Corsair’s HX 620W, PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer 750W, Antec’s Neo HE 550W, and Seasonic’s S12II 500W the opportunity to set themselves apart.

Update 10/05/2007 — Cooler Master has bumped the warranty coverage of its Real Power Pro power supplies to five years. The longer warranty adds value, particularly to the 550W model, but it doesn’t change our overall recommendations.

I own the Thermaltake 700w. Thank goodness i came across this review. It helped with my options of what to buy.

Its honestly not unbearingly loud as TR put it. TR is used to be around top of the line products all the time, so compared to what ever they consider low sound must be deafening loud for us! People listen to their Music,TVs and games louder than 56 decibels. How can people pay attention to a fan and be so picky lol.

couldnt pass it up it was 129.99 with a 50 rebate from Frys.

IntelMole

12 years ago

Good review. Further testing you could include:

– Would it be worth looking at efficiency at 25% load? That’s practically idle, and probably the area a PSU spends most time in.

– The aforementioned swings in demand

– Make one go boom 🙂

flip-mode

12 years ago

See comment #5 😉

thorz

12 years ago

Excellent article, and The Beast is just impressive!
I got an HX620 last year without knowing it was so good. The thing is amazingly quiet and have never had a hiccup.

Thanks for this superb article Geoff and TR!

Draxo

12 years ago

By far the most timely article in my case. Just one thing though, none of these supplies will mean squat when the light go out. Please follow up with an UPS article. Then retest of power supplies when on UPS power. Questions to test ac riple under simulated and or true sine wave.

evox

12 years ago

Wow that article image looks….weird. like a bundle of snakes or something ..

liquidsquid

12 years ago

Damage, etc…

Further tests I would like to see, and they have a lot of relevance to quality:

Dynamic load response.

For example when you go from low load (standby) to boot load (50% or more) in under 1mS.

Use a small scope onto the power supply rails (all of them if you can) and watch the outcome as the boot process unfolds. A well-designed PS will maintain regulation limits under this situation, but poor ones will dip below the limits temporarily and possibly then overshoot to try and compensate. This can be a serious issue of a board gets over-voltaged, or the board is run in an unstable region during boot.

Run on a Prescot board with a dual graphics-card setup for worst-case real-world test.

This is really a glaring omission from your tests, and is a very important design criteria when designing power supplies.

The Antec NEO HE does not work with Intel DG965WH motherboards. Don’t know why, but the board won’t boot up. It just cycles on and off.
The Earthwatts works just fine.

Oldtech.

just brew it!

12 years ago

I’ve encountered issues like this a few times as well. Occasionally, a particular mobo/PSU pair will simply fail to POST for no discernible reason. Same mobo with a different model of PSU is fine, and same PSU with a different model of mobo is also fine.

I’ve never been able to figure out why this happens. When it does, I generally just swap the PSU with the one in another system, and move on.

swaaye

12 years ago

I have a OCZ Gamexstream 600 W. It has been very reliable for the past year or so. It’s a real champ. Runs a overclocked quad core plus 8800 GTX without even a twitter of complaint.

The only issue I have with it is that it is noisy, like they say here. The 120 mm fan is the culprit, with a rather noisy motor. As the PSU warms up, that fan speeds up, and it is easily the loudest fan in my system. Not because of high fan RPMs, but just because the fan’s motor is clickety. Heh.

I’ve considered replacing the fan but obviously that results in zero warranty.

just brew it!

12 years ago

Unfortunately there a bit of a tradeoff of fan noise vs. reliability. Ball bearings are the most reliable, but it is hard to make them truly quiet. Panaflo fans are a pretty good compromise; they have a modified sleeve bearing design (IIRC they call it HydroWave bearing or something like that) which is supposedly almost as reliable as ball bearings, but quieter.

Gungir

12 years ago

I can vouch for that. Panaflos are my fan of choice – quiet and powerful at low speeds, but rocket ships when you give them a full 12V.

Aphasia

12 years ago

I have a hard time getting hold of Panaflos here, so Papst all the way. They are just as good and sometimes better methinks.

fpsduck

12 years ago

Well, I’ve been a secret reader for quite sometime.

I like to read TR reviews.
Hope for the round power supply review,
other brand like Gigabyte, HEC, Enhance
or more should have a chance to shine. 🙂

Aphasia

12 years ago

And this is why i still like TR after all these years. Good solid reviews, graphs, a really nice job, and a community that supports the site. Really nice job there JBI. Of course, nothing is perfect, and there has come up some good points for the future. But then, TR is run by smart lads to i guess they have something up their sleeves for the next time around.

But the following isnt really bad things to try:
* Testing with a conditioned line.
* Variable ingoing voltages.

And i would also like to add the following. It would be great with an “inside” shot of the PSUs if possible, and also if there is available info on any OEM that it being sold rebranded, etc.

Last and probably the hargest is that i would love to see how far the PSU’s go before they croak. Of course, the last one is mostly a wishfull thinking and i want it for kicks. In the old days i think there was some fortran source/sparkle PSUs that were rated 300W and croaked at 470W or something as absurd, but then, IIRC it was at Toms so it might not have been accurate.

just brew it!

12 years ago

By “croak” do you mean shut down due to the overload protection kicking in, or the PSU physically self-destructing? I’m sure you’d get some of each.

Firestarter

12 years ago

Whichever gives us nice vids of sparks flying and magic blue smoke 😉

Aphasia

12 years ago

Whichever comes first really. And this is probably more worthwhile at the lower end of the ratings as all is already tested at 100%. I would think that one is much more likely to overdrive on the low end after say a vidcard/cpu upgrade or something.

indeego

12 years ago

q[

SpotTheCat

12 years ago

Odd, I didn’t notice this review until today.
edit: I love that testing unit, that thing is very cool.

just brew it!

12 years ago

…and as an added bonus, if Geoff’s furnace cuts out this coming winter, he can just hook a 1000+ watt PSU up to The Beast, fire it up, and… voila — instant space heater! 😀

(I’m not kidding, it *[

SpotTheCat

12 years ago

I suppose you’re an EE guy then? I love how simple the operation is. Very job well done.

just brew it!

12 years ago

My degree is actually Comp Sci, and my day job is developing software. But yes I’ve got some EE background as well.

indeego

12 years ago

The OCZ below my desk produces a heat draft that hits my face. In the winter it remains below the desk, in the summer I move it elsewhereg{

crichards

12 years ago

In these PSU ’roundups’ there’s never any Tagan supplies reviewed. I always thought they were quite a major player in the game. Am I wrong?

Krogoth

12 years ago

Tagan has more of a presence in OZ, EU and eastern Asia than in the USA.

crichards

12 years ago

OIC. Thank you.

Firestarter

12 years ago

I wonder how efficient the average laptop power brick is compared to these powersupplies. Most laptops don’t use all that much power (mine tops out at 70w full load afaik), so from an energy-conservationists’ view, it’d be interesting to see..

edit: looks like regular laptop power bricks are mostly in the 80%+ territory as well

eitje

12 years ago

one can find the DC/DC converter boards pretty easily – i think hooking one up to the Beast would be a good thing to try. 🙂

DrDillyBar

12 years ago

Power supplies are a critical component that are often overlooked. Otherwise, my Neo 550 has served me well for more then a year now, so props there.

vinylstar

12 years ago

I design VRMs and other power managment on server motherboards, and I just find it a bit hard to believe that an the test setup was burning 225W on idle? Assuming the AC/DC PSU was 80% efficient at idle, that means that somewhere around 190W were being burned downstream on the mobo somewhere…at idle?

As others have mentioned it is very important to test a power supply across line variations. As the input line decreases the input current will go up leading to possible thermal issues. As the input line increases the voltage across components will go up either changing the performance of certain components (MOSFETs and Caps) and/or derating their life.

If you want to get a good idea about lifetime of a power supply, the best thing to look at is the bulk capacitance on the output voltage rails. If they are using Aluminum Electrolytics, you can bet you’ll get a shorter life than if their using Al Poly’s. Some research into the different types of caps out there would take this review to the next level.

Most switching power controllers specify an initial accuracy for the output DC voltage, but this can drift with temperature…some controllers handle this better than others based on the configuration of the internal bandgap. Testing DC accuracy over temp is also necessary. If it varies more than +/- 10%, you’ve got a problem. Otherwise, most of the converters downstream are designed to operate within 10%, so outside that range is a “don’t care.”

We all burn a lot of energy with our computers….glad to know people are interested in getting the high efficiency units.

Thanks for the good article.

just brew it!

12 years ago

I suspect the high idle power reading for the test system is due primarily to the pair of 8800 GTS video cards. The nForce 590 chipset and dual hard drives don’t help either… the test rig was definitely *[

MaxTheLimit

12 years ago

Is it just me or are the result summary for the efficiency % switched? the 75% load results seem to be switched with the 100% load results…at least on the 2 or 3 I compared…

Dissonance

12 years ago

Graph titles were jacked. Fixed.

Ragnar Dan

12 years ago

Nice piece. We finally got to see the Beast. And kudos to *[http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4587977?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG< ]§ ) Ultra 500 watt model for $49.99. Not quite generic, but cheap enough. Back about 5 months ago lots of us got an Ultra 600 watter for ~$7 after $65 MIR, posted in the Hot Deals forum ( §[<https://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50139

nonegatives

12 years ago

So that’s what happens when you feed an old decade box steroids!
/[

bthylafh

12 years ago

Sort of off-topic:

A typical system for me has 1 upper-mid-range processor, a mid-to-high range video card, one or two hard drives, one optical drive, and at most one other expansion card besides the video. Also three or four input devices.

Currently, that’s an E6300, GF 7900GS, 2GB of RAM, 1 Seagate HD, a DVD burner, joystick/throttle and gamepad. What’s a reasonably-sized power supply for a non-hardcore-gamer like myself? Currently I’m on a 380 watt Antec power supply that was scavenged from an original Sonata case. If I wanted to, could I get by on e.g. a 250 watt p/s or even lower?

i’d wager the psu’s are not the items registering the noise levels unless they held the meter directly behind the ps.

ssidbroadcast

12 years ago

Oh okay, well there you have it. Thanks guys.

herothezero

12 years ago

q[

crazybus

12 years ago

You clearly have never experienced Corsair PSU packaging 😛

green

12 years ago

i gotta say that i am very content with my hx520
modular, very quiet, and good efficiency (and black….. so it’s better :p )
also comes with a small dvd-case-sized bag for the extra cables
for me that bag makes me feel like i bought something special

only complaint i have with the psu is the sticker above the power plug
after 2 weeks of use it started curling/peeling away from the unit due to heat
it takes things down a notch when you fork out a premium for a quality unit
and then find company wouldn’t spend an extra $1 on better adhesive

as for the review i would have preferred to also see actual loads rather than %age loads (in say 75W increments)
proper efficiency testing does test at percentage loads
but percentages mean nothing to me since i can’t tell my components to use more/less power to get to a better efficiency balance
actual numbers work better as a comparison as i can see what my power requirements are and pick an appropriate unit instead of backwards calculating the %age’s of the maximum power output

FireGryphon

12 years ago

That’s the driest sarcasm I’ve seen in a while. lmao!

kilkennycat

12 years ago

I note that the PC Power and Cooling supply runs a single 60 amp 12V single output distributed to multiple output wires with no intervening current limit per wire. This grossly violates Intel’s informal recommendation of a maximum of 22 amps available per output. There is a very, very good safety reason for this recommendation. The potential for a catastrophic fire should a low-impedance path happen between any power-output and and the ground-return, either by a component-failure (e.g: capacitor) or circuit-board failure. I have been heavily involved in electronic equipment design engineering and reliability testing for many years and I have personally witnessed 2 cases of circuit-boards catching fire due to a failure of inner-layer isolation betwen a power-feedthrough and the encirclng ground-plane – diagnosed as whisker-growth due to (probably) moisture trapped during the multilayer fabrication process. (Similar damage to such feedthroughs can also occur when the feedthrough is the receptable for a component — such as a capacitor or the pin of a power-supply connector — and a careless replacement has occurred where the feedthrough has been overheated or physically damaged.) In the event of a power-feedthrough to encircling ground-plane conductive-path failure, all the available current (in this case +12V@ 60amps) will attempt to pour through that path raising the temperature until a fire ensues. A hole will be burnt in the board around the feedthrough until it is sufficiently large to involve all the power-planes in the multilayer board. The byproducts of the combustion are carbon and the hole will continue to burn and enlarge until the current-density through the carbon around the hole is sufficiently low for the temperature to fall below flame-point and the fire will extinguish. A modern circuit-board compliant with UL flame-retardant specs will not continue to burn after this point. However, there is no saying what might happen with other components inside the PC while this merry fire is going on. And if an unrestricted 60 amps is available for any output, instead of the Intel-recommendation of ~20 amps max current-limit per output over each of the 2, 3 or 4 outputs, the burn may go on 3 times as long before the originating source self-extinguishes. So who knows what else might catch fire ??

For safety, I **personally** do not recommend ever buying a PC power-supply with any output having much more current available than the absolute maximum current required of that output for that specific PC hardware configuration. BTW, for any given current, the +12V has the greatest available power ( watts = current x voltage…) – convertible to heat in the case of a failure. And a modern PC demands very high total power from the multiple +12V outputs — a quite different scenario for PC built a few years ago, where 5 and 3.3v were the big power consumers. But, hey, it’s a free country, and I am NOT in any way a representative of any official body responsible for public safety.

Ballywhoo

12 years ago

I very much appreciate this review, but you guys that are referring to it as “excellent” are not up to date with the other sites doing these. JonnyGuru and HardOCP blow this article out of the water. Anandtech is coming close but until AT starts to measure the power of quality they are just shooting blanks in my book.

I think trying to do 11 PSU’s at once is just too big of an undertaking. There is an entire list of things that Geoff missed. Just go read a “real” PSU review that uses industry standard ATX PSU testing equipment. The Beast makes for a good photo op and a good story, but it is far from being a piece of equipment that is up to the testing criteria that is becoming standard in the industry. Doing power supply review OK is what they have done, but there have not even come close to excellent.

I like the attempt at noise measurements, but the data seems inaccurate at the loads stated. I also like the system build numbers, some lower level system builders need this and it is a welcomed sight.

My suggestion to the TR guys is to at least measure up to the competition. Half baked reviews are not the norm here, but that is what you have posted.

All the blind butt kissing is not good for TR. I will crawl back under my rock now as the TR fan boys will certainly come after me with a vengeance instead of reading this post as critical and spot on feedback that will hopefully make TR better.

Damage

12 years ago

So how are things in Dallas? Plano area, right?

Dposcorp

12 years ago

I give up.

The “person” i thought u were referring to is “at” Lewisville, TX via WHOIS.

🙂

bthylafh

12 years ago

Put your money where your mouth is and post a link to these wonderful PSU reviews on other sites.

UberGerbil

12 years ago

You know, you don’t do your credibility any favors when you describe your comment as “spot on criticism” within the comment itself. That’s more self-congratulatory than any of the comments about Damage’s review.

The noise measurements “seem” inaccurate? We should take your word for that, I guess, based on your ability to observe the tests over the internet.

I’m not a fan of reviews that waste their first page(s) with word-for-word reprints of marketing copy and pictures of the box, and HardOCP falls into that category, but it’s easy enough to skip past the fluff. HardOCP gets plenty of kudos for its test setup, which looks thorough and accurate; it certainly seems to be a more extensive test design than TR’s (though I have no problem with “the beast” as a source of load — it’s no less accurate or realistic as a test load than a Variac). Which makes me wonder why I haven’t looked to HardOCP for PSU reviews before. But then I see their last ten reviews are:
ABS 1300W
Antec 850W
Ultra 1600W
Corsair 450W
PCP&C 750W
Seasonic 500W
Cooler Master 750W
PCP&C 1000W
Silverstone 1000W
Enermax 720W
OCZ 1000W

Exactly two are under 700W. Which means 80% of their reviews are for components I would never buy. (When spec’ing servers we may go over that threshold, but these aren’t server PSUs and rack systems are a completely different category). To be fair, they have a five-PSU roundup down at the bottom that compares “mid-range” (sub-500W) PSUs. But wait, isn’t a mass review “too big of an undertaking”?

eitje

12 years ago

I very much appreciate your comment, and I’m glad I just skipped to the end – why read the details, when I can just be told that it’s all “critical and spot on”!

indeego

12 years ago

Quite the detailed post. I like how you outlined each of the areas in which TR failed to measure up to the competition with specific examples, links, everythingg{!}g

radix

12 years ago

That just made me laugh. Hard. On a separate notice, what have you been drinking or taking? It may be seriously affecting your judgment.

Krogoth

12 years ago

You’ve failed at trolling 101!

odizzido

12 years ago

Awesome review guys. There is a distinct lack of proper PSU reviews IMO, and this is just awesome. I look forward to more of these.

crazybus

12 years ago

I’m happy with my silent Corsair 450VX. It’s even more efficient than the 620HX and easily has enough power for my system. I believe it’s made by Seasonic as well.

Rowan

12 years ago

Awesome review, especially the Beast 🙂

Couple of suggestions for the future: the graphs could use some prettying up. For example, only show the horizontal rulers at the target voltages: 3.3, 5, and 12. Also, the actual result lines could be a bit thinner.

Someone already mentioned that we didn’t get any details about the cooling test setup.

Thirdly, when I’m buying a power supply, I’m not buying it to run at 25%, 50% or 100% load. I’m buying it to run at loads between the idle and maximum of my setup. Therefore I think that running (differently rated, no less!) the power supplies at these percentages is much less helpful than determining specific loads and testing all supplies at these loads: for example 80 W for silent system at idle, 120 W for silent system/HTPC at load/gaming ring at idle and then something a bit more extravagant for full powered gaming rigs at full load. A bit like the cooling test.

Other Antec PSUs tend to be fairly dodgy, using poor quality capacitors and have a tendency to up and die rather suddenly without warning.

Seasonic easily makes the best power supplies in the industry. Fortron Source/Sparkle also makes rather good power supplies at very attractive price points.

Noubourne

12 years ago

I was going to post this too. Why not the $150 Seasonic M12 600? That fits in well compared to the other prices and wattage, and includes modular cables.

Also, I thought the Silencer 750 was actually made by Seasonic as well?

Seems like Seasonic is the real winner here. Very important to point out that most of the Corsair units are not this high quality. I think that some reference to actual manufacturers would do shoppers a world of good. Often they will go out and buy a budget unit based on the review of a high-end model, and when these brands are paying Seasonic to make their high end models and putting garbage hardware into their lower models that people actually buy, that’s where people get into trouble.

crazybus

12 years ago

/[

Nullvoid

12 years ago

Yea, you’re a bit wide of the mark here Noubourne.

The Corsair hx 520w/620w are as good as any Seasonic-branded unit**.
The vx450 is effectively an S12II without the solid cap on the 12v rail.
The vx550 is built by Channel Well and if anything is a superior design than the hx series (and other equivalent Seasonic units), if held back a little by not being modular.
The upcoming tx 650w/750w will be built by Seasonic(650) and Channel Well(750) and both should be their best products yet, although again somewhat disappointingly they won’t be modular.

Your assertion therefore falls flat on its face.

** – This particular review appears to indicate that the 750w Silencer edges away from any other Seasonic unit but the Jonnyguru and Hardocp reviews of it simply don’t agee.

edlight

12 years ago

Since we don’t know what kind of case with what sort of cooling was used, we don’t know the real data for the temperatures. For instance, an Earthwatts is supposed to just take care of itself and stay quiet and not try to cool the case, so the case needs to have a quiet 120mm fan and good airflow. It looks like the case in the test needed help from the psu to cool itself. We also don’t know the temperature rise through the psu’s, so we don’t know which cool themselves well.

ionpro

12 years ago

Excellent review, as always. That rig is impressive!

I always find something to be critical about, but it’s hard here. The only comment I had was that standard deviations are great for AC ripple, but a max ripple (or maybe a 90 percentile?) might be more telling. Hard to do, though, especially as I imagine the ripple takes a minute to settle down after shifting to a a new load (especially when you flip one of those 8A switches, or bridge a few and flip that, heh). Or am I wrong? I’ve never hooked an ATX power supply up to an oscilloscope myself.

Great job, TR.

just brew it!

12 years ago

The outputs of a PSU really ought to settle down immediately (on the order of milliseconds or less) after a step change in the load. I suppose there might be some drift in characteristics as internal components heat up or cool down over a longer period of time, but I don’t think that would affect the ripple much (if at all).

Krogoth

12 years ago

Kudos to everybody involved in making of this review. (JBI, I give you a glass of 120Min IPA DFH beer 😀 )

It is very good to see that my PCP&C Silencer 610W fares very well in this review. FYI, it is the sister unit of the Corsair 620HX.

I believe the Beast demands some generic PSUs for feeding. 😉

Usacomp2k3

12 years ago

Since there is a standard for testing, does that mean that it’ll be easier to test new units as they could always be compared to the existing figures. Unlike most computer hardware reviews, there are not OS versions or firmware updates that would change the output, just cold, hard data (the best kind!). Would that then lead to the possibility of having a central page where all of the data is there and could be filtered how one wanted? I’ve writting similar types of things in Excel so surely something like that wouldn’t be too difficult to do in php. (I’d even be up for helping if you wanted.)

Just an idea.

Zymergy

12 years ago

Techreport,

My compliments on an excellent PSU review!
“just brew it” and all others involved with the development/construction of “The Beast” deserve numerous Kudos as well as the reviewers.
I see people reading your reviews over tomshardware…

I think most people that have that issue know to get some sort of line stabilizer, especially in the form of a UPS as you mentioned.

cf18

12 years ago

Great review. Finally a real test of power supplies. I will look forward to more test of cheaper power supplies. Just remember to have fire supression on standby when you test those $10 no names…

d0g_p00p

12 years ago

Awesome review guys and just brew it deserves a round of applause. One question though, how come Ultra was not included in the review? I know that your cannot test every power supply, but Ultra is considered a “enthusiast” power supply.

Again, amazing job. This was a long time coming.

edit: damn flip-mode 🙂

provoko

12 years ago

Great review, but whats a bad “ripple”? You were saying AC ripple didn’t go up to .03, but uh no clue why that matters, haha. At what point is AC ripple too much and what would happen? Thanks.

flip-mode

12 years ago

for some reason the figure 30 millivolts (.030) comes to mind as the specification’s max. Which specification’s, you ask? I have no idea. ATX?

ATX ripple spec is 50mV max on the +3.3V/+5V rails, and 120mV max on the +12V rails.

Excessive ripple or noise on the rails will put more stress on downstream voltage regulators (e.g. your VCore regulator) and power smoothing capacitors. You may also get some of the noise feeding through to system outputs (analog VGA out and/or soundcard line out), causing visual and/or audible artifacts.

In extreme cases, it could result in system instability.

provoko

12 years ago

Nice to know, TR should make a note of it. Thanks guys.

MaxTheLimit

12 years ago

I’m kind of surprised to see some of the prices on there. The one that grabbed my attention most was the OCZ. It’s listed as 114. I paid 96 for mine (exact same model) a couple of months ago, and still seems to be only 104 after rebates at CC, but when you click on the price it is indeed at the lowest 114…and that’s after the rebates. I’m thinking this is an example of how well the Canadian dollar is now doing compared to the American dollar.

Sargent Duck

12 years ago

Excellent review Geoff.

I know you already said you guys were looking at doing 20-25% efficiency numbers, but I just wanted to throw my vote in for that too.

And man, does that Corsair ever look nice. Has all the perks one could ask for.

Vaughn

12 years ago

Excellent PSU review, and all praise the beast =).

After reading quite a few reviews on the Enermax Infinity 720Watt I was surprised at the low efficiency in your testing. Most of the other sites show it in the 82-85 range. That was the only thing that stood out to me, the rest of the PSU’s all seemed to match other reviews.

Also most of the other sites list it as having a 130mm fan not 140mm, was that a typo?

Smurfer2

12 years ago

Haven’t read this yet, but this is the review I needed! I want to buy a PSU in one or two months! Thank you Tech Report!

I am actually very happy. 🙂

slaimus

12 years ago

A nice side effect of testing cheap power supplies is the explosions at 100% load 🙂

deathBOB

12 years ago

Test some cheap power supplies so we can see if it’s really worth paying extra for a brand name.

I also think you should test real world power draw for various classes of systems. It’s great to see which PSUs live up to their promise but it doesn’t tell me how much power I would need when building a system.

JustAnEngineer

12 years ago

Agreed. Let’s see how the FSP Blue Storm II and AX500-PN compare to some cheapies from Rosewill and to the more expensive name brands. Then, blow up a few over-rated bottom feeders from DEER , PowMax and Allied for fun and to provide a cautionary tale.

bthylafh

12 years ago

Pah, you don’t need to try that hard to blow up a Deer. That’s just warm-up.

flip-mode

12 years ago

Man, how could I forget to give thanks where it is due: thanks JBI and nice friggin job!

Yer I have the baby brother of that model (HE 430W) and was pleased at how the model tested did, given how cheap I got my PSU. I have been very happy with my one so far, although I am hardly pushing it with my system (probably around 150-200W max).

torax

12 years ago

Yeah, I’m pretty impressed with the Neo550 as well. I’ve had mine for almost a year now and have a new found respect for it after seeing it’s low idle power draw.

I picked mine up at Fry’s for $70 shipped!

pwdrhnd23

12 years ago

Just an FYI on the Neo 550.

I ordered 6 for single Opty 2216 workstations with a Tyan S2927 (dual socket Nvidia 3600) and 2 were DOA and 2 others needed to be connected to a system less demanding before they would boot the basics on the Opty system.

So 4 have been running just fine since about December and the other 2 were replaced under warranty. I am not sure as to what it really means for the whole line or even other 550s but that was my experience.

emorgoch

12 years ago

There’s one thing that I’ve always been curious about with the power supply reviews that I never seem to find. While I have my computers plugged into a high quality UPS (APC SmartUPS 1500), I don’t think that’s the norm. What’s I’ve been curious about it how the PSUs respond when you start to vary in the input voltages they get.

The NA power situation is relatively deplorable, and unable to deliver “clean” power. Rarely do they run at 120V, and in the summer, it’s not uncommon in my parents place for the AC line to drop as low as 104V. Since half of what the PSU is suppose to do is clean up the output to the components (Active power correction), I’d be interested in seeing how they are actually able to perform when they need to do so.

Also, how common is the 8-pin PCI-e connector? This is the first that I’ve heard of it, and I’m not exactly out of touch with the current state of things.

continuum

12 years ago

jonnyguru, SilentPCReview, and I believe HardOCP all vary the input voltages.

Also I’m surprised there’s no mention of the varying pedigree of the brands, since very few companies make their own PSUs these days. The similarities are generally obvious once one takes a few minutes (and a screwdriver, if you’re being picky) to look!

emorgoch

12 years ago

I was just particularly drawn to Anand’s new PSU setup that they show cased this summer (http://anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3021). However, even with the huge budget that they obviously spent on this specialized equipment, they never got into performing those variance tests, even though it would be rather simplistic for them to with that equipment.

Electric Amish

12 years ago

I would like to see a review releasing the BEAST on some of the “non-name brands” of PSUs to see if there really is a difference.

A_Pickle

12 years ago

You guys are the best. 😀

Klopsik206

12 years ago

First, I’d like to u[

Usacomp2k3

12 years ago

Quite impressive. Reading the description of the beast just made my insides all warm and fuzzy.

FroBozz_Inc

12 years ago

Indeed. Kudos to JBI for a very interesting job well done!

Nyce.

gerbilspy

12 years ago

Awesome picture!
You untangled the topic nicely though!

torax

12 years ago

That’s one cool picture of all the power supplies, ala Medusa!

Thrashdog

12 years ago

My first first thought was Cthulhu. Great article, though! I remember reading about The Beast in the past, and it’s good to see it being put to use. Bravo!

SuperSpy

12 years ago

Awsome review totally in classic TR style. The only thing I could have hoped for was more PSU carnage from The Beast. Sadly, it looks like you decided to play nice. (110% Load test, pretty please? =P)

Also glad to see the PC P&C take home a gold medal.

GodsMadClown

12 years ago

Indeed. Doesn’t the Beast require sacrificial victims to sate its bloodlust? Inquiring minds want to know. I just want to see magic smoke. 🙂

just brew it!

12 years ago

Well, as I pointed out in my notes on construction of The Beast, I did manage to sacrifice a ThermalTake TR2 to it during initial checkout. I also sliced my finger open pretty good while crimping connectors for the wiring harness!

Dposcorp

12 years ago

Good job, JBI.
A blood sacrifice is always required, but tossing a virgin component to the dragons of computing never hurts as well.

eitje

12 years ago

You are a compu-sorceror of the highest caliber, sir!

king_kilr

12 years ago

A) Is there a compendium of editor’s choice products somewhere?

B) Is it fair to extrapolate the Corsair’s results to its 520W little brother?

mboza

12 years ago

B) Yes, I think SPCR reviewed both against each other. Wonder how the new VX models do.

willyolio

12 years ago

on paper, i would have gone for the enermax- the only one that is both modular and 80+ certified.

but the corsair is amazing- well above 80%, and it didn’t get certification? good thing this review was here.

flip-mode

12 years ago

Thought: How bout testing efficiency at 25% too? I only ask since most computers just sit at idle most of the time, and seeing as this roundup of PSUs is all 500W and above, 50% is still at least 250W, while most systems will idle far below than, many not even half that much.

Maybe just do a minimum load test instead of a minimum percentage load and test efficiency there? Like test all PSUs at 125W maybe?

Just trying to be helpful.

Flying Fox

12 years ago

Shouldn’t those machines be Folding? Then no more idle load. 😀

flip-mode

12 years ago

I guess that depends on who you ask, and I have a feeling that a majority of computer users out there, when asked that question, will first say “what is folding” followed by “no, thanks”.

The main reason I made the suggestion is because I’ve heard that PSU efficiency is often lower at idle loads and it would be quite useful to see how these PSUs do at those lower load levels.

GodsMadClown

12 years ago

Agreed. 500 watts x .25 = 125 watts. That’s roughly the draw of a modest computer setup. It’s not unreasonable to imagine that those who built such a rig might be interested in frugal power usage, and might be served by readings at %25.

To keep from increasing your testing workload, maybe you could shift your load percentages to %33, %66 and %100.

500 watts x .33 = 165 watts. Efficiency at 165 watts should be in the ballpark of efficiency at 125 watts.

Assuming that most people buy bigger PSUs than they expect to need, I guess the 100% line is of academic interest anyway.

I would have liked to see them all tested at the same loads though, so that the direct comparisons are easier, Like the load and idle charts at the end. A line graph plotting all of them from say 100-400W or so should separate out the pack, and I guess I would extend the higher rated supplies out to 80% or so of their rating.

In fact, next time why not try to test them all at roughly the loads required for the systems in the last system guide, to link it all together nicely?

But always nice to see so many things tested against each other in one go.

Thank you, that is helpful… but then again if we’re just going to punt to the specification its almost worth questioning why bother with testing efficiency at all.

BobbinThreadbare

12 years ago

The test system which is probably just a little beefier than most enthusiast systems (due to the SLI graphics), uses almost 250 watts at idle. If you are only using 125 watts shouldn’t you be saving money by buying lower rated power supply?

flip-mode

12 years ago

Possibly. Then again those Corsair units are so excellent that I’d consider grabbing the HX520 regardless. There’s also the thought that if I did get a good unit like the HX520 that I’d keep it around for several upgrades, and while it might be overkill right now it may come in useful in a future build. Still, you point has merit.

flip-mode

12 years ago

Thanks TR. This one has been a long time coming.

Dposcorp

12 years ago

Massive amount of TR refreshes and First Post FTW!!!

Am I missing something?

q[

Nitrodist

12 years ago

I was about to say, is it just me or did I completely miss this TR article?

Dposcorp

12 years ago

I think he forgot to change the date. (Edit: Fixed now, good job big guy)
Although, because it is such a awsome article, I say three cheers for Geoff Gasior.
/[http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/editorial/cebit2007-2/2kw_bg.jpg&1=1

Dissonance

12 years ago

Still figuring out the ins and outs of the new content management system. Date’s updated now.